Looking to update oak kitchen cabinets without losing the wood look? Learn how I transformed my 90’s oak cabinets without a drop of paint!
Every morning when I walked into my kitchen to make breakfast I knew I had to change my orange cabinets.
They are original to the home which was built in the 1990’s and have solid wood front frames, and the rest is built from press board.
The doors had detailed trim around the edges to make them look like a raised panel cabinet door. They caught every speck of dirt and dust on and in their crevices and curves. And they were difficult to clean and keep clean.
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How to make oak kitchen cabinets look modern without paint
I knew I wanted to change my kitchen cabinets. But the question was how to get modern, warm, wood look cabinets on a budget?
That meant I wasn’t going to gut the kitchen and buy new cabinets or paint my existing cabinets.
I came up with an idea to cover the orange frames of the cabinets with wood veneer and make my own new cabinet doors out of hardwood plywood.
Reface cabinets with wood veneer
I started modernizing my oak kitchen cabinets by refacing them with wood veneer.
I’ll give you a quick summary of what that process looks like. Or you can check out the original detailed step by step tutorial of how I used wood veneer to reface my cabinet frames.
Or watch this video that I made about the whole kitchen cabinet veneering process.
I began veneering my kitchen cabinet frames by removing the doors and hinges, cleaning the surfaces with TSP, and roughing up the finish with sandpaper.
Once the cabinets were cleaned and prepped, I moved onto measuring, cutting, and applying veneer edge band to the inner lip of the cabinet face frame.
Then I applied veneer sheets to the ends of the cabinet runs. The veneer I bought came with adhesive already on it. So, all I had to do was cut a piece larger that the area I was covering, peel back a corner of the protective backing, and carefully place it on the cabinet making sure the cabinet was fully covered.
Next, I applied veneer to the face of the cabinet. Applying the veneer to the vertical frame pieces first and then the horizontal pieces.
The hardest part of veneering my kitchen cabinet frames was trimming the veneer.
It’s not even that it is particularly difficult. It just takes time to learn how to do it easily. And even once you’ve got it down it takes time to trim every piece of veneer so it looks nice.
Once all of the veneer was applied I sanded all the edges well and, protected the wood, by applying three light coats of Minwax Polycrylic following the instructions on the back of the can.
Make simple DIY wood cabinet doors
The next step in making my oak cabinets look modern was to make new cabinet doors.
I used the instructions in this this awesome blog post about how to make your own kitchen cabinets from plywood from Shara at woodshopdiaries.com, to build new flat panel cabinet doors.
For more details check out my original tutorial about how I made my own modern kitchen cabinet doors.
Or you can watch a video of me making the cabinet doors.
Here’s the short version:
First, I measured my cabinet to figure out how large of a door to cut.
Next, I cut hardwood plywood to the sizes I needed for my doors.
Then, I applied edge banding onto the edges of the plywood to make it look like a solid piece of wood.
After that I sanded the doors well, wiped them down to remove dust and applied Minwax Polycrylic following the instructions on the back of the can.
Last, I used a Kreg concealed hinge jig to install the concealed hinges to the doors. And attached the doors to the cabinet frames.
Modern kitchen cabinet hardware
The last thing I did to make my oak kitchen cabinets look more modern was add new pulls to the doors.
I used these black finger edge cabinet door pulls.
They look so clean and modern! And they were super easy to install!
All I had to do was line them up where I wanted them on the cabinet, mark where the screws should go on the back of the door, drill pilot holes, and screw them into place!
Modern oak kitchen cabinets – After
My favorite things about my new modern, natural, wood kitchen cabinets are:
- No more orange!
- Modern clean lines that can easily be wiped down and kept clean.
- Natural, warm, wood look.
- The soft close hinges that I installed when I replaced the doors. They’re not cheap, but they are so worth it!
There isn’t anything I would change about my cabinets at this point. I finished the project about a year ago and I feel much calmer when I look at my cabinets now.
Kitchen cabinet makeover tips
I always recommend starting diy home projects in the most inconspicuous spot if possible. Especially if you have never done that type of project before. Like when I was stenciling my bathroom floor. I had never painted or stenciled a floor before. So, I started in a corner that I knew would never be seen, under the vanity that I had not installed yet.
I had never veneered anything before, besides the edges of plywood. And now I was attempting to cover my kitchen cabinet frames, in the middle of my home that I have to look at all day every day, with wood veneer. I was hoping that it wasn’t going to come out looking like a kindergartener’s craft project.
For this project I decided to start with the smallest run of lower cabinets in the kitchen. Starting with the smallest run meant I would get it done faster and feel like I was making progress. And doing the lower cabinets first meant they weren’t as visible as the upper cabinets if they didn’t turn out perfect.
DIY oak kitchen cabinet modern update – FAQ
Have you experience any problems with your plywood cabinet doors warping?
No, I have not. I’ve had the new plywood doors on my cabinets for almost a year now and they look just like the day I put them on, no warping. I live in Maine where we definitely have wide temperature and moisture variations (cold/dry winters and hot/humid summers). I used high quality Purebond brand 3/4 inch red oak plywood and I also sealed my plywood cabinet doors with Minwax Polycrylic.
Did you stain or seal your veneered cabinet frames and plywood cabinet doors?
Yes. I used Minwax Polycrylic in satin finish. I followed the instructions on the back of the can, applying three thin coats and allowing it to dry and lightly sanding with 220 grit in between the coats.
Where did you get your modern black finger pull cabinet hardware?
I bought my black finger edge cabinet pulls on Amazon. I got the 7.9 inch size and they cost about $24 for 10 pieces. I love the modern, minimal, streamlined look. And they are so easy to install right on the top or side edge of the cabinet…no cabinet hardware jig needed!
Where did you buy the veneer you used to reface your cabinet frames?
I started the project by buying a cabinet refacing kit from wisewoodveneer.com. I bought the kit because I had never veneered before. I like the kit because it has everything you need to get started veneering: pre-glued veneer sheet, edge banding, detailed instructions about veneering, and tools. The one thing I didn’t like about the kit is the edge banding in the kit. It was larger than the wood edge I had to use it on and I had to do a lot of extra trimming. So I ended up using 3/4 inch edge banding that I bought on Amazon that fit my edge perfectly, no trimming.
I used red oak flat cut veneer sheets with peel & stick 3M pressure sensitive adhesive. I thought I bought 2×8 foot sheets, but now it looks like the smallest sheet you can get is 4×8 foot which currently costs around $100 without shipping. They have many different wood species to choose from.
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